Another bumper week for blog participation - thanks again to everyone who participates by reading or posting.

Mr. Red Devil - Now that Man Utd have won the EPL (with 2 matches to go) and will play in the FA Cup Final, do you see Carrick's transfer fee as being justified?

His play throughout the season was consistently very good and he was a valuable part of the 1st team, so I believe he was well worth the 14m-18m pounds. I know you were wary of that amount at the time of the transfer, so I just wanted to get your current views.

Bobby – He had some good games but he rarely looked like a £18 million footballer. Spurs paid £10.9 million Berbatov, different positions but who go better value? I noted that SAF was complaining that Chelsea had inflated the market by paying £27 million Michael Essien. From what I’ve seen Chelsea got a better deal paying what they did for Essien than United did for Carrick.  And now we have Owen “£20 million” to look forward to.

Bmax14 - I went to my first USL game yesterday and I was actually kind of impressed with the atmosphere and reasonable quality of play. In your opinion, where would USL 1st division compare in quality to England's leagues? Would it be League 2? And MLS, my impression is that a good MLS team would be comparable to a mid-table Championship team. What would you say? I'm trying to get more into US football this year to accommodate my summer fix since there is no WC or Euro to watch. I know I can't expect the EPL but I don't think MLS (or even USL) is the absolute worst football in the world either.

Bobby – I gave up comparing leagues and came to the conclusion that it was a pointless exercise. We know that some MLS players can make it the Premiership while others would struggle to hold a starting spot in League 2 or even the conference. I think what that tells us is that the MLS has some very good players but it is lacking in depth. Because Europe has more leagues and teams playing at the professional level, players are more liable to find their natural level with teams that match their skills and abilities.  This is how I look at it numerically with 10 being fantastic and 1 being poor it might line up something like this over a starting eleven. MLS – 3 nines, 2 sevens, 3 fives, 2 threes and 1 one. Championship – 1 nine, 1 seven, 3 sixes, 2 fives, 3 fours and 1 two. MLS has a wider range of skills on the team while the Championship would be much more tightly grouped.

RINGO - This week’s trivia. Which team used to play home games at Annfield?
And which team plays home games at St.James Park?

Bobby – Trick question you ####. Stirling Albion and Exeter City. Did you ever post the answers to last week’s questions?

Neophyte - Why is Mark Hughes always associated with being the heir apparent to the ManU. throne? With Keane showing promise why is everyone so hot on Hughes? If SAF were to retire today I can think of a couple of others I would rather see as Gaffer than Hughes. I like Steve Coppell if I had to choose right now. How about you?

Bobby – It is standard practice to link former players with managerial and coaching jobs at their old clubs. History has proven that there is a better chance that someone will be hired who has a connection with a club than otherwise. So it makes some sense. What Mark Hughes has over the other names that pop up is European and International experience as a manager.

Rwonfootball - What is the point of the EPL suing YouTube? YouTube gives the league free publicity, so they really shouldn't be complaining.

Bobby – Simple, why would you allow someone to give away for free, something that someone else would pay for. The EPL doesn’t need free publicity nor does it want it. It wants money.

Henry14 - Q1 What is the problem with Tyneside club, do you think it’s the board, or the club in my opinion is not as big as it claims to be?
Q2 If $60m we put for Berbatov do you see Tottenham selling him
Q3 What do you think of Lori Cana, I am of the information that he is definitely be one of Wenger's signings. Again Bobby, Amy Lawrence on a talk show said that Wenger has been given $100m pounds as part of 80m pound transfer budget they agreed on with the creditors up to 2009 and she sees certain that Eto’o is on the cards. Personally l feel Eto’o and Henry are mutually exclusive in the same team, even if Wenger has this amount of money do you see him coming to Arsenal

Bobby – 1. In business terms Newcastle United is an underperforming asset and has been for decades. When you see that sort of situation there is only one person to blame – the Chairman and in-turn the directors. 2. If Spurs sell Berbatov the fans will be livid and rightfully so. With the new TV deal kicking and as long as the player is happy there would not appear to be any reason why Spurs would have to sell. 3. To be perfectly honest I don’t think I have ever watched him play – I certainly wasn’t aware of him. Apparently he is a defensive midfield player and so I can’t see why Arsenal would go after him. 4. I just can’t understand why Barcelona would choose to sell Eto’o. So until someone comes up with a good reason I am expecting him to stay at the Nou Camp. 

BigWave - I know this is a minor thing but now that Man United has won the Premiership title can the new guy on the Fox Soccer Report stop referring to the Reds as "Man U?" All football fans know that is not a proper term.

Bobby – We have that in common. Referring to Man. Utd.  as Man U has driven me crazy for years. In fact if my wife wants to bug me she will ask “is that Man U on television?” However, the reference has become so commonly used that I have accepted that nothing is going to change.

Henry14 - How you rate Torres among forwards, do you think he is the Darren Bent group of players. Is Hunterlaar for real, is he not like Kezman?

Bobby – He is far better player than Darren Bent. The problem with comparing Hunterlaar with Kezman is that for every Kezman there is a Van Nistelrooy and Roy Makaay. Who knows how differently it might have turned out for Kezman if he had joined a team that gave him a regular spot in the starting eleven. 

Rob's Rabble - I wonder did you see Jorge Valdano's comments on the Liverpool Chelsea Champions League game. If not, check out The Guardian's website. Basically he compared it to watching #### on a stick. As an Arsenal fan, I have to agree somewhat that Benitez and Mourinho are strangling a lot of the skill level out of the game. The sad thing is that you could say that Arsenal actually made it to the CL final last year playing the same way. Hard to see what the solution is, but I have to say I would rather watch ties like Milan Man U over the Liverpool Chelsea ones every time.

Bobby – It was a terrible game of football but it had me on the edge of my seat. 

Foxcube - Q1, given his failure to defend the title, how likely do you think now is JM to be asked to quit in the summer, if Abramovich would risk losing a couple of key players? What's your reckoning on what the owner wants the club to be like? Playing beautifully? Or a team to win at all cost, the more trophies the merrier?
Q2, Can you name the three transfer targets Sir Alex alluded to? Or to rephrase it, if you were ManU manager, who'd be your top three recruits?
Q3, Could you also name the three most needed positions/candidates for Liverpool and Arsenal?
Q4, Is Tottenham faring better than you expected at the beginning of the season? If they can keep Berbatov, will they be among the top 4 challengers next season, including, imo, Arsenal, Everton, and Aston Villa?

Bobby – 1. I think Mourinho will be gone before the new season starts. As for what Abramovich wants – my guess is wonderful flowing football. 2. There are a number of targets that have been mentioned already – Hargreaves, Berbatov, Bales, Nani (Sporting Lisbon). I think he will be on the look out for a couple of midfielders – it would be a dangerous game to bank on Giggs and Scholes producing a repeat of this season’s form next year. United also need a striker. 3. Liverpool – a reliable and mobile 20 a season goal scorer, a first class left sided midfielder and cover at centre back although Benitez might have a couple of youngsters who can step up. Arsenal – another option on the right side of midfield, a dominating centre – both Toure and Gallas lack the couple of inches that Sol Campbell gave Arsenal – and a new goalkeeper. Lehmann’s antics wore thin a long time ago. 4. Tottenham exceeded my expectations as far as entertainment value was concerned but I think they will finish close to where I picked back in August. The FSR and the blog will be pulling out the predictions in the next week or so. Even with Berbatov I can’t see any team cracking the top four.

LosAngelesChelseaFan - Bobby, are league teams still contractually obligated to enter it (the Carling Cup)?

Bobby – I believe so.

RINGO - Having seen the way Chelsea’s season has ground to a halt, I do not think it is possible to win all four trophies.....Which makes the achievements of the "Lisbon Lions" all the more remarkable!
And with the 40th anniversary of their great triumph approaching.....good topic for a blog?!

Bobby – They say records are made to be broken but Celtic’s haul in ’67 will take some beating. A couple of days ago I was thinking of the spring of 1967. Scotland beat World Champions England at Wembley, Celtic became the first northern European side to win the European Cup, Rangers were beaten by Bayern Munich in the final of the Cup Winners Cup in extra time and Kilmarnock reached the semi final of the Fairs Cities Cup before going out to Leeds United. We will never see the likes again!

Venti_vidi_vici - Now that the fourth season of the Abramovich era at Chelsea is coming to a close, is it safe to say that one still cannot buy happiness or success?

If Mourinho’s last two seasons at Porto are to be defined as successful because of the trophies he collected, how successful, would you say, were his first (and maybe only) three seasons at Chelsea?

It looks like Gary Neville, Michael Carrick and Steven Gerrard are all getting married on June 16 next month, and John Terry’s big day is the day before. That must have something to do with fixture congestion, right!? Did you receive an invitation to any of them?

In your personal opinion, why did Tim Howard not feature in the match versus his former employer, Man Utd, last week?

Congratulations are in order for Man Utd for accomplishing what, a year ago, appeared to be mission impossible and dethroning Chelsea. At the beginning of the season did anyone predict the EPL trophy going back to Old Trafford?

Bobby – The reality is that is next to impossible to have success in football without money. The thing that Abramovich brought to Chelsea was an almost unlimited supply of money – something we have never seen before. I don’t believe that two Premiership titles and assorted other hardware can be looked upon as failure. June 16 – I think there is a Gold Cup game that day.
Tim Howard – I have no idea but was there not an arrangement made with one of Scott Parker’s moves? As for predicting Manchester United as the premiership champions at the start of the season – out of over 70 predictions that were received on the blog I believe only four selected United as the winners. I will have the full details next week.

S&M just cannot keep up with Argentina. They are chasing - and from time to time trying to kick - shadows.

Kezman gets sent off for a lunge at Mascherano - that came after he had a wee kick just a minute before at Riquelme after the ball had gone. He got away with the first one - but not the second.

Is Kezman really a superstar?

A flick from Riquelme puts Crespo through - a clear penalty there - but the referee waves it off.

And for S&M it just gets worse with Messi on and Maxi off.

S&M has now taken off their two first choice strikers - Kezman and Milosevic - but to date it has not made a difference. At some point soon S&M must push other players forward to support the front two.

Netherlands take off RVN who has been playing a slightly different role than we normally see and Kuijt is on.

Koroman strikes a wicked shot from the edge of the penalty box that Edwin van der Sar (EVDS?) gets down well and gathers at the seconmd attempt.

S&M looks like a team that has no idea how to come from a goal down. They are devoid of ideas - and short of numbers up front. If they are going to get one back it might have to be a set piece.

RVP goes ever so close with a left footed that just bends around the far post after a free kick on the right side.